To the chief Musician, A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, 1 I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. 6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth. 8 There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under His feet. 10And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 12At the brightness that was before Him His thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. 13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave His voice; hail stones and coals of fire. 14 Yea, He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. 15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at Thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils. 16 He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. 18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. 19 He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me. 20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me. 23 I was also upright before Him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. 24 Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight. 25 With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright; 26 With the pure Thou wilt shew Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward. 27 For Thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks. 28 For Thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. 29 For by Thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. 30As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. 31 For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God? 32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. 33 He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. 35 Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy right hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great. 36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. 37 I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. 38 I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. 39 For Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. 40 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me. 41 They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but He answered them not. 42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. 43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and Thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. 44As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me. 45 The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places. 46 The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. 47 It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me. 48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, Thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: Thou hast delivered me from the violent man. 49 Therefore will I give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto Thy name. 50 Great deliverance giveth He to His king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
Meditation
Psalm 18 and the song found in 2 Samuel 22 are the same; only minor differences exist between the two. In the books of Samuel, the psalm comes at the close of David’s life. The prophetic nature of the psalm, and the prophetic parallels found in the books of Samuel account for its placement at the close of these books. The psalm answers to the time when Christ will return to deliver Israel from the Antichrist and subdue all their enemies. David is clearly a type of Christ, whereas Saul is typical of the man of violence, the Antichrist (2 Sam. 22:49; Psa. 18:48).
The Lord Jesus Christ alone answers in an absolute way to the language of the psalm: “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me” (vs. 20); this fits no one in the full sense of the text except the Lord Himself. And although Gentiles were subject to David, verses 43-45 will not be fully realized until the millennial reign of Christ.
The psalm may be outlined in the following manner: vss. 1-3 summarize the whole and describe David’s relationship with Jehovah in the day of his deliverance; vss. 4-6 describe David’s conflict and his cry for help; vss. 7-15 give us God’s answer from the heavens; in vss. 16-18 we read of David’s deliverance; vss. 19-24 describe David’s uprightness in the sight of God; vss. 25-29 present the principles upon which God acts in His righteous government; in vss. 30-42 David acknowledges that all his strength derives from Jehovah, the God of Israel; vss. 43-45 show David established as king, head over the Gentile nations; vss. 46-50 conclude the psalm with David’s exalting God and praising Jehovah for his deliverance.
There is much practical encouragement in the psalm that we can take to heart. The whole psalm hinges upon this one expression: “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies” (vs. 3). David knew Jehovah personally: He was his rock, his fortress, his deliverer, his God, his strength, his shield, the horn of his salvation and his high tower. We find in Psalm 23 that Jehovah was not merely a shepherd, but rather, He was David’s shepherd: “The Lord is my shepherd” (Psa. 23:1). Can we say as David did, the Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer? Do we know Him practically as these things in our life? He wants to be.
David was heard in the day of his trouble because he had found favor in the sight of God: “He delivered me, because he delighted in me” (vs. 19). The principle remains true today. It is the Lord’s joy in us that gives us our strength — not so much our joy in Him, though that is surely wonderful, but His joy in us. “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). And how do we bring joy to God? Surely He rejoices when His children are walking according to the truth (2 John 4).
We do not expect God to deliver us from all difficulty; indeed, we are warned, “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). However, the Lord neither begins nor ends with these words; in all He says: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Unlike David, we do not look for great victories in the earthly realm. We are, however, called upon to be overcomers, and Christ has already overcome the world.
A man of faith has peace despite his circumstances, and one with a clear conscience has nothing to fear. “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments. ... He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid” (Psa. 112:1, 7-8). When our hearts are not right with God, when things come in to cloud that happy communion that should be ours, then we are troubled: “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:21-22).
It should be emphasized that the Christian does not do works to gain favor with God, but rather, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). An obedient walk is evidence of our love toward God (John 14:15).
The psalm concludes with: “Therefore will I give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto Thy name” (vs. 49). Though in a different sense, it is good to openly acknowledge the source of our help before those who do not know the Saviour. When God answers prayer, do we provide an explanation acceptable to those around us, or do we acknowledge the One from whom deliverance came? “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Pet. 3:15).